1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to management and delivery of electronic message status information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Messages can be transmitted, received or stored in a variety of electronic formats, including without limitation email, instant or private messages (both network-based and peer-to-peer), SMS (Short Message Service), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), VVM (Visual Voicemail), voicemail, and the like. Messages may be transmitted using store-and-forward or real-time systems. Several of these message formats, whether by virtue of message size or transmission protocol, can be quickly delivered to recipients and thus used to provide reasonably timely information and responses, even if relayed using a store-and-forward system. Since participants in electronic communications typically communicate with other participants in remote locations, the immediacy and context of an in-person conversation, such as the implicit knowledge that the other participants in the conversation have heard or received the speaker's communication, may be lost. This disadvantage can be exacerbated when multiple users are participating in an electronic message “conversation”. User experience with any type of electronic message may be improved by enhancing the apparent immediacy of the communication and augmenting the contextual information available to the participants.